2nd. Edition Breaking imaginaires 

Within the framework of Women's Day week, last March 18th, the activity "Breaking imaginaries" was held; it was a very inspiring day in Vic. We had five talks by women of Moroccan origin from different fields, a talk about the importance of representation in education, and two group activities.

Our president Olfat Khannous Lleiffe presented MO'ED and its mission. Then, Yousra Haddad Belfkih - the coordinator of the activity - proceeded with the presentation of the act and its planning. 

The mentors had different academic and professional backgrounds. The various professions of the mentors were: Pre-doctoral bioinformatics researcher, English teacher, Law student, Head of the quality department and president of a solidarity association, Self-entrepreneur and owner of a clothing store, and Social educator.

During the activity, the mentors explained their careers, present situations and difficulties they faced through their path, and advice to overcome them. Some of the hardships they mentioned were: lack of representation, obstacles in finding a job when you wear the hijab (religious veil), economic difficulties, self-limitations, etc. However, they encouraged the attendees to thrust forward and to have self-confidence despite the hardships.    

The speech about the importance of representation in education focused on the significance of representative personalities in children's and youth literature since the lack of representation can affect self-esteem and result in an exclusion feeling. In addition, there was a discussion about ways to empower women representative personalities to address digital gender bias and the initiative #NoMoreMatildas created by the Association of Women Researchers and Technologists (AMIT). 

The first activity was speed-dating to break the ice and for attendees to get to know each other. Then, we divided the attendees into two groups; each group had to create canvases of difficulties, sources of motivation, and representative personalities. 

This year we added the representative personalities canvas, which allowed us to see the diversity of women who inspire the attendees: their families, friends, teachers, or pedagogues. We observed common patterns between both groups and hardships that produce the opposite effect in some cases (every reality is a world). 

"Making us visible" was the last activity. We matched 50 women with 50 milestones, discoveries, and facts. The activity ended with a Kahoot of 4 questions to review, and the winner was gifted a small present (Congratulations Irene Benito!).

The coordination of the activity was made by: Yousra Haddad Belfkih 

Video with a resume of the event:  https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cp95951K68m/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet